Swimming Stars

This was an idea that came to my mind today. This is just a part of it, want to hear any opinion about it before I continue on, mainly because I am not exactly sure how realistic the concept is.

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The little boy was at his favorite place. He had always come to this beautiful sanctuary, for this place was the only spot where he could be by himself, no one annoying or criticizing him because of his weird like; his hobby.

But what’s the hobby that has always made people scorn at him, dislike him? It was nothing bad, as he thought, nothing that would harm anyone. It was a beautiful hobby that made him happy, that was pretty to watch.

The place was a long, flowing river with tall trees on the two sides, beautiful flowers of petals, roses and irises, and one could see the moon and the stars shine ever so brightly. But that wasn’t the boy’s main interest in the place. At one end of the river, there was a place where green, nice lilypads grew. That was the part that interested him.

The little boy had a collection of small, short candles. Each Christmas, Easter, or any sort of festival where his parents would give him a present, he would tell them, “I want candles.” But what would he do with those candles?

Once a week, he would go to his favorite place; particularly where the lilypads were at first. He would collect a number of them, ten, twenty, maybe thirty, and then he would walk a little further to the middle of the river, as it wasn’t that long. There, he would get out his favorite candle collection, and on each lily he would put a candle, lighten it and let it flow on the river. He would do that with each lily he has collected, put a candle on it, lighten it and let it go. In the end, it would create a beautiful scene that was the only thing that warmed his heart up. The lilypads flowing on the river so gracefully, and the candles’ light reflecting on the water with different color for each candle. Sometimes he would even collect some feathers and blow them, just to add more beauty.

However, you must be asking, if it was that beautiful, and that harmless, why would everyone dislike him for it? The river’s other end was at the village he lived in. Each morning, the lilies he had made flow would reach the other side, but with the candles’ wax spoiling the lilies and falling in water, spoiling it. Many had tried to made him stop, but none could ever convince him. Many tried to make his parents persuade him to not do it again, and although they have talked to him, it never worked.

The little boy wasn’t a social one. He didn’t really know a lot of people at his village, and he didn’t have any friends. He went to a small school where he learned how to read, write and calculate, but he didn’t befriend any of his mates. He was smart and good at his homework, but not very playful. The only thing that interested him was the beautiful place he liked; the hobby he preferred. He wasn’t a depressed guy. He was actually very friendly, nice and pleasant to talk to, but as most of the villagers and people around him didn’t understand his hobby, he kept himself to himself.

One night, he was already there at the river’s side, sitting under a shady tree. He was watching the pretty scene he had created as usual, when he heard some footsteps. Annoyingly getting up to see who was it that disturbed his peaceful time, he went to see a young girl just of his age, or maybe a few years younger, watching the beautiful sight curiously but then looked at him as he approached her angrily. She was simply dressed in a nice, short red dress and had her brown hazel hair done nicely, falling on her shoulders.

“Who are you? This is my special place, you know. I don’t really welcome visitors so.”

The girl didn’t seem to be put off by his rather harsh greeting, and smiling at him, she replied, “I am sorry, but I couldn’t help but follow you here. This place is…beautiful. Did you do everything by yourself?”

She was obviously curious, and she liked the sight so much that the boy softened a little towards her. After all, he wasn’t normally a rude person, but he just wasn’t exactly nice towards his village people for they didn’t understand what he liked. And he simply thought that this girl is like them, too.

Pouting, the boy replied, “Yeah, I did. And whoever gave you the permission to follow me here? This place is mine at this time, and if you are here to tell me again that it’s harmful and whatnot, then you could go home better!”

The girl giggled softly, but she replied, “No, I am not here for that. I…I just heard a lot about how you do things here, and even though it annoys the people at the village…I was interested. So I waited till you were out, and followed you.”

She then stepped forwards, approaching the river, gazing at the scene the boy has created. It was a marvelous picture, something she had never seen before. Turning back to the boy, she said, “This is…so pretty!”

The boy had the pout still on his face, as though as he didn’t really believe that the girl liked it. He wasn’t just used to it; that someone else would think it was pretty, too. Not even his parents understood that.

“Yeah, right…whatever. You can leave when you are done here, but don’t disturb.”

He went back to the tree and sat down, quietly watching the flowing lilies although he was partly disturbed by her presence, despite that she hadn’t really done anything annoying. He just wanted to be alone, like he was used to be.

The move didn’t annoy her, and she approached him and sat down quietly beside him, watching the lilies interestingly. The boy glanced at her, and she looked really marveled that he could see that she was really honest when she said she thought they were beautiful.

“What’s your name? I haven’t seen you in the village before.” He said, ignoring that he had told her to leave him alone. Seeing her so marveled by the scene that warmed him made him only curious about her.

She giggled and replied, “Silly, I just live next door to you, but then you don’t go out much. I am Candela.”

The boy blinked and turning to her briefly, he replied, “Candela? Sounds like candy…or candles. You live next door?”

She nodded and replied, “Yup. What’s your name?”

He blinked briefly and turning back to watch the lilies, he replied, “Heather.”

She giggled again and said, “Nice. Although I heard it ‘Feather’ at first.”

She was obviously teasing him and he seemed to be annoyed a little but he didn’t reply, and just kept watching the lilies. They stayed silent for some time, and more by more, the boy (let’s call him Heather by now) would look at Candela and she would seem happier than before. He was just getting more curious but getting it in, for the sake of not embarrassing himself.

“You know…those lilies with candles shining like this…they are like, swimming stars.” She spoke up at last, breaking the silence. Her comment only made the boy more curious.

“Swimming stars? I never thought of them so.”

“Oh, but they look so! See?” She pointed to a lily with a white candle, and continued, “That is a lovely white star there, swimming in the river happily. And this,” She pointed to another candle, a blue one, she continued, “And this is a blue star! So pretty, right?”

Although he had never thought of it like that, Heather was impressed and interested in her thoughts, and he began to soften more. He smiled at last and pointing to a black candle, he replied, “And that is a black star, right?”

The girl then shook her head and replied, “Nope! Stars are never black, silly. How are they going to shine if they are black? Hmm…I think it is a planet, or something, you know. Maybe you shouldn’t use black candles again!”

She laughed and he laughed as well. After laughing for a bit, he looked to her and replied, “Do you…want to come with me next time I do this? I won’t mind company if it’s someone who understands my hobby and think like I do.”

Happy at his offer, Candela nodded and replied, “I would love to do that! I’ll probably be in trouble later, but I don’t care. This is…simply beautiful.”

And they spent the rest of the night watching the lilies as they shone prettily on the river, before returning to their homes, each one of them happy because each has found something; someone they could treasure.

_________________-Credits to sprayofcolors for avatar.

phoenixgirl.

Number of posts : 54964Age : 38Location : Somewhere in New Domino looking for the love of my life ^^Title : Hoping to be Yusei's greatest loveRegistration date : 2008-03-14

Subject: Re: Swimming Stars Tue Oct 05, 2010 12:05 am

I got a chance to read this story and it's very beautiful and sweet. ^^ I like how you captured the innocence of childhood and portrayed how someone different isn't easily understand, for I know what that's like.

Before I read the boy's name, he reminded me of William for some reason.